Steve Jobs: iPad to offer Word support, $10 e-books, 6 days of music

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed after Wednesday's iPad unveiling that the device will offer "the same" prices on e-books as Amazon's Kindle, the Pages app can export documents in Microsoft Word format, and it will offer nearly 6 days of continuous music playback.

The conversation between Walt Mossberg, of The Wall Street Journal, and Jobs was captured on video by BoomTown's Kara Swisher. Mossberg asked Jobs why customers would want to purchase books for the iPad, when they were rumored to cost between $13 and $15 while Amazon charges $9.99. Jobs responded by saying, "the prices will be the same."

"Publishers are actually withholding their books from Amazon, because they're not happy with it," Jobs added. The comment carried a different tone from his keynote, when Jobs complimented Amazon for pioneering the e-book market with the Kindle.

Mossberg also asked Jobs if he should write his review of the iPad in the Pages application, which will cost $9.99 in the App Store. The journalist said he would need to save it as a Microsoft Word document, though, because his editors "don't know anything about Pages."

Jobs told Mossberg that the mobile version of Pages would allow him to save the file as a Microsoft Word document.

"Write it in Pages, you could make a Word version and send it to your editors," Jobs said.

Mossberg also inquired about battery life on the iPad, and Jobs revealed the device will offer "140-something hours" of continuous music playback with the screen off, or nearly six days.

"It's all about the display," the Apple co-founder said of battery life. "Our chips don't use hardly any power."

As for the device's uptime when reading e-books, Jobs said he believes the 10 hours provided will be more than enough for most users. He discredited Mossberg's suggestion that a backlit LCD display, versus the e-ink on the Amazon Kindle, produces a "battery cost."

"You know, there isn't," Jobs said. "Because you just end up plugging it in. You end up docking it or whatever you're going to do with it. It's not a big deal. Ten hours is a long time. Because you're not going to read for 10 hours."

The iPad has a 9.7-inch LCD display that features IPS technology. The Hitachi-developed feature allows improved viewing angles and superior color reproductions on screens.

Later in the video, Mossberg also revealed that Jobs personally told him that the iPad would carry a price under $1,000. The statement suggests that the Apple CEO confirmed the existence of the device to Mossberg before it was formally announced Wednesday.

While the Journal reporter had assumed that the device would cost $999, Apple revealed Wednesday that the starting price of the iPad will be $499, with the most expensive model costing $829.